Marines

What is it really like to go to war? This documentary takes us inside the experience of battle and reveals the soldier’s experiences as never before. Leading the exploration are Sebastian Junger, bestselling author and director of the Academy Award-nominated film Restrepo, and Karl Marlantes, decorated Marine officer and author of the memoir What It is Like to Go to War. Both men bring firsthand experience, hard-won wisdom and abiding commitment to telling the warrior’s story with insight and unflinching candor.

The draft in the 1960s and 1970s was a lightning rod that lit up schisms of race, class and culture in American society. But ending the draft has produced unintended consequences, creating a citizenry disconnected from that of the soldiers who experience the burden of war. The question of who serves in America’s military has shaped battle strategy and foreign policy and stranded Americans in uniform for years on distant battlefields. From the Civil War to the conflicts of the Vietnam era, forced military service has torn the nation apart – and sometimes, as in WWII, united Americans in a common purpose. Featuring interviews with the people who fought the draft, supported it and lived its realities, this program tells the story of how a single, controversial issue continues to define a nation.

This special takes a look at creation of the upcoming series from Ken Burns and Lynn Novick: THE VIETNAM WAR. Featuring interviews with the filmmakers, behind-the-scenes footage, and exclusive clips from the series, this program will give viewers an advance look at this fall’s most anticipated film.

View intimate portraits of America’s military families, with unprecedented access to soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen and women. More than two million men and women serve in America’s all-volunteer military force, and another three million are their husbands, wives, sons and daughters. Yet over the course of two long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the stories and the service of these military families have often been overlooked. The program creates a series of intimate portraits – following families through the difficulties of deployment, the joys of homecoming, and the challenges of reintegrating as a family after many months apart. This revealing documentary tells stories of pride and patriotism, sacrifice and resilience.

Hawai‘i’s roughly 117,000 veterans are entitled to an array of benefits, including heath care, social services and educational assistance. In 2014, an audit of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pointed to delays in claims processing nationwide, but the Veterans Affairs office in Honolulu has already started taking steps to remedy the situation. Are our veterans getting timely access to the benefits they’ve been promised? Malia Mattoch hosts the discussion.